vibration at around 80mph
 

hi guys,

lately i've noticed a vibration coming through the steering wheel from around 78 to 85 mph. it's really just at those speeds in any gear, accelerating hard/moderately or just cruising. i can feel it through the steering wheel, dont really feel the whole car vibrating. it's not terribly bad and after i go past that speed it settles down.

could this be an alignment issue? i am due for one and will do it this weekend after i replace my rear tires which are on their way out. or maybe its time to dig deep in the pocket for some suspension parts which at 125k miles the originals are pretty tired.

i'm hoping maybe there is a common issue and i can pinpoint it instead of throwing money at parts. fingers crossed the alignment fixes it though..

thanks,

Cristian

If it is only within a certain speed range and especially if your tyres are worn, it will be the balance. New tyres and/or a wheel balance should fix it.

Cristian - I'd have the front wheels road force balanced at the same time you get the rears replaced.

Check if that fixes the problem. Then look at an alignment problem.

Have you had your wheels off lately? If you didn't tighten your lug nuts enough before you lowered the car the wheel wouldn't be 100% centered on the hub and you'd get a bit of a wobble. Just throwing a simple fix out there.

both good points thanks! i will have them road force balance the fronts, replace the rears and do the alignment and hope that would fix it.

good tip!

last time i had them off was when i did the brakes 2-3 months back and have put a few thousand miles on the car with no issues since then. i made sure i tighten the lug nuts enough before dropping it to the ground.

This is the key, if you feel it thru the steering wheel it's the front tire/wheel assembly. If you feel it thru the seat it's rear tire/wheel assembly.

Alignment has noting to do with vibrations.

Mine was a bent rim.

Mine was a front inner tie-rod (bent)
 

I had the same 68-84mph shutter or vibration.

Mine on 98 box 8+year old tires!!!!
so I thought that...

But when re-installing my inner tie-rods I noticed one was spinning eccentrically as i threaded it in... I swapped it out for a new used one my pal had.& short test drive later

bingo, gone, and I have yet to Align it.

(I will just need a few more parts in hand before I dive in)

I can't wait, new tires, fixed bend parts, ...
now as soon as I get an alignment I can "give her the beans again"

If you have taped on wheel weights, sometimes they shift, or even come off. That would give you vibration too. Get them balanced.

I am having a similar issue, vibration in steering wheel starting around 80 mph
My alignment is good and all the parts are are solid

I'm gonna get the wheel rebalanced

I suppose the abuse I gave them at the track did not help things

ok so i replaced the rears, had all 4 wheels road force balanced and got an alignment and things have improved greatly. i think i still feel maybe 5% of the vibration at over 80mph but i have to really pay attention to notice it.
maybe that's a speed range that's predisposed to vibration if there is any?
in any case it's not something that i will pursue for now, i have other suspension parts worn that need attention before i can be anal about a vibration that's virtually unnoticeable.

here are my before and after alignment results:

http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/...psccooorbz.jpg

for some reason some actual values didnt print but the technician said they were in the green range.


can one of you suspension guys let me know if these values are good ? i asked them to go for the stock setup, i'm not trying to do anything fancy and the car will be daily driven with the occasional autocross.

thanks,

Cristian

they really need to give you a printout WITH the actual values, otherwise you have no idea of what they really are.

The "acceptable" range is BS. If you are going to do any performance driving, you want as much neg camber as they can do, even though +.6 deg is in the factory spec